F1: what Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari will change for Formula 1

Thursday’s announcement of Britain’s Lewis Hamilton signing a contract with Ferrari from the 2025 season was a shock that will have multiple ramifications for the short- and medium-term future of Formula 1 as a whole.

A few hours of storms and the Formula 1 landscape is redrawn. Thursday 1^{this one} In February, Mercedes confirmed the departure at the end of this season of Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, including six times with the German company. At the same time, Ferrari put an end to the public secret by confirming the arrival of the Brit from 2025, for “several years“.

This transfer, which almost no one had seen forty-eight hours before, had the effect of an explosion, a tremendous blow of wind on the whole discipline. And in more ways than one. The 2024 season has not yet started (March 3, Bahrain GP) and the next one is already turned upside down.

Hamilton, the search for eternity

Lewis Hamilton, however, has little left to prove. An absolute F1 legend, the most successful Grand Prix driver (103 victories), his story seems to be no longer written in Mercedes, where he arrived eleven years ago. However, he still has one unfinished goal with just one lap to go, and that is to be the most successful driver in the Formula 1 world championship. With his seven crowns, Hamilton still shares the throne with Michael Schumacher. And after the heartbreaking outcome of the 2021 season, the last two opuses seemed to seal this dream, the fault of ill-born Mercedes, bending like the others before the overwhelming dominance of Red Bull. “The time has come for me to take this step and I am excited to take on this new challenge” explained the pilot on Thursday.

In order to achieve this, Lewis Hamilton will come to Ferrari a year before the implementation of the new technical regulations, in 2026. Exactly what he could do when he arrived at Mercedes in 2013, a year before the big development – V6 turbo hybrid engines – which opened a period of hegemony for the Silver Arrows.

“I don’t know if the regulatory change will be that big, but having a top driver like Lewis will be an added advantage.analyzes our consultant Cyril Abiteboul, former director of the Renault team and president of Hyundai Motorsport in the rally. Announcing a pilot strategy with a name like this very early means announcing a very high level of ambition. It’s a virtuous spiral of attracting good engineers, mechanics, the best of the best… If there was even the slightest doubt about Ferrari, it’s gone.“

Already an exciting season in 2025.

To see one of the greatest drivers of all time join the most legendary team, “This is super interesting news for this sport, which has exceptional dynamicssays Cyril Abiteboul. But the dynamic must be maintained. There is always the risk of going into a lap dominated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull. A new headliner was needed to create a threat.“

In the machine telling a story what Formula 1 has become in recent years, this transfer will be the big story to follow. It’s an unfinished quest for fame. Also that of a British lord who follows in the footsteps of the Red Baron of Ferrari. To give himself one last chance to leave Michael Schumacher and his seven world titles in the rear-view mirror, Lewis Hamilton continues his association with the German, from whom he took over at Mercedes in 2013, before now seeking similar success with The prancing horse stable.

However, unlike “Schumi”, who at the peak of his career stopped at Maranello as part of a team that is being reconstructed, Lewis Hamilton will make his Ferrari debut at the age of 40. “Fernando Alonso (42 years old) shows that we are still young in F1 at that agemoderated by Cyril Abiteboul. And Ferrari is not looking for construction, but results and titles. It is a strategy to maximize these results. The difference in 2023 between Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez at Red Bull shows the extent to which you can have a very good car but two drivers can use it and have very different results. We can’t blame Ferrari for wanting to put the odds on their side.“

And an even clearer transition period of 2024

This transfer, which has taken place so early in the season, will further spice up the transfer window for next season, which has not been lacking with 13 of the 20 drivers in the field out of contract. “Hamilton in Ferrari, it’s an absolute dominocompares our consultant Cyril Abiteboul. There is a sequence: Ferrari starts, then Mercedes will have to go, even Red Bull will have to wonder about their second driver. No one can say that this shocking announcement spared them. Teams that want to be at the forefront will have to react quickly.“

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff may have announced on Friday that he wants to “take his time“to replace his main driver, he also described the situation as “a chance to do something daring.“For some drivers, this is a chance or never to show them the light at the beginning of the season to convince their new employer. This is especially the case in Alpine with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, candidates for Red Bull. seats and Mercedes Ali and young French promises Théo Pourchaire (who after the Formula 2 world title went to drive in Super Formula in Japan) and Victor Martins (F2), who should not miss their opportunities in the game of musical chairs.